Be Brave for Him
by Jessaminebell
Summary: What happened to the twins after their betrayal of Ralph? Wallowing in self pity, the two struggle to catch hold of the reality that is the burning island. Can their minds come back to them before the crimson beast swallows them as well?
1. Chapter 1

Be Brave for Him

Lord of the Flies: Sam and Eric

The distant sound of the screams of children faded as the two boys stood still. They gazed past the green creepers with indifferent auburn pupils. The two's hands held each other in tight comfort, yet one ripped their sweaty palm from the other's.

Sam jumped back from his brother with an intense hatred flustering in auburn. He clenched his teeth tightly before lashing out.

"Why didn't you listen to me!? We could have told Jack a different spot; not the real one! Ralph could be dead right now because of us!" He shook his head angrily.

Even with the close proximity to one another, Eric acted as though he had heard not a word. He continued with his cold and distant stare in the direction the kids had run off towards. He moved only his slowly closing eyelids.

His silence only seemed to add in Sam's apparent anger. The twin approached his mirror, grabbing him by the shoulders and digging his nails into the exposed skin.

"We killed him, Eric. We killed Ralph. Is all you can do is stare ahead like a piece of rock!? Why did you do it!? Eric!" He was nearly moved to tears by his own emotion, but all his mirror could do was turn away. The indifference stained on Eric's face melted to raw feeling as the weight of Sam's words hit him.

Sam grabbed the arm leaving his brother's side just as his voice pierced the jungle wood turning hot and crimson.

"Eric-"

"I did it for you!" Eric's sudden shout shook the tears he smeared across his cheeks. He shook his head, hand turning limp in Sam's grasp. He turned back with wide auburn eyes and a guilt burning in the blackness that now consumed his pupils.

"Did you want Roger to hurt us again!? Do you want the humiliation he put us through while a smile was on his face!? Call me selfish or self-centered, but I can't let another person live when I'll have to see you suffer because of it! I'm the oldest; it's my job to protect you!" The words rang out in the smokey atmosphere as something the boy himself had never said before, but the previous actions to portray it had always been there.

Always.

It was for several smokey minutes that these boys stared to one another in the darkening forest of skin-pulling creepers. Their eyes locking with one another shared in a painful guilt that cut deep into them. How could they ever overcome the burden of knowing they had caused their friend's death? They betrayed him. They killed him.

Finally, Eric shook off his brother's hand. He stared down to the grass becoming ashen with the incoming fire's intensity. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"I 'pose it doesn't matter now... I've failed. I was supposed to keep you safe. Mom always said... She always said that me being the oldest meant I was 'posed to be in charge and make sure nothing happened to you."

The various bruises and cuts on their skin told of another tale. He had failed in one of the only jobs that he had inherited. With no one else in their lives, Sam could always be sure that his older brother could protect him. Perhaps this was the exception.  
Eric fell to his knees, pointed bones digging into the ground. He kept a stare to a certain strain of grass, not daring to lift his auburn from it.

"And even if I did do it to save you, it still hurts. I killed someone. I am the reason someone is dead." He turned back, a rather maniacal smile now to his face.

"How could I ever atone for that?" Eric simply chuckled, shaking his head. His pupils drifted from the horrified look on his brother's face and to that of the sky. A light blue peeked through vines strewn across the jungle trees, but a thick black quickly rushed in to cover anyone's view of such a serene and light blue.

Sam looked away from his brother. Any strength he had seen in the boy dissolved in so little time. The crazy smile and slight chuckling Eric emitted every so often was proof enough. Just how had they fallen so off track in this short amount of time?

Even worse, a thick heat hotter than that of the island was approaching the two. It swelled into embers and black smoke, devouring any green and replacing it with a thick grey ash. If the twins didn't get going, they, too, could get swallowed. Why would they give up on life after surviving for so long?

Eric felt a slight tug at his shoulder. His eyes shifted over, head rolling as though the boy was exhausted.

"Oh, hey." He spoke as though the presence of his brother was a new one and not that the boy had been staring at him for god knows how long.

Sam once again tugged on his brother's ripped shirt.

"C'mon. Let's go." He urged him along, aware of the advancing fire in the distance. Despite his tug, the brother brushed him off. Eric smiled, shaking his head.

"Why? Sheesh, calm down. Mom will get angry if you're so mean to her. You wouldn't want her to become disappointed in you, would you?" He asked, nearly laughing.

This statement stopped Sam cold. He stared down with wide eyes to the boy who was so out of the situation. Eric continued with aimless chatter, directing his attention away from his brother and towards an unseen person.

Sam clenched his teeth, uttering the words he would never have thought he needed to say.

"Mom's not there. She's dead, remember?" To him, this sentence was a world-shattering statement. It crushed him so much when it had first been uttered, and it crushed him just as much now. It was a pain burning so deep that years of time wouldn't be enough to heal it. Perhaps with enough memories added on top, the event itself could eventually be forgotten or pushed off to the side.

Eric laughed.

"What are you talking about, Sam? Mom's right there." He pointed off in the slight distance, eyes still fixed to the point.

"Why are you being so silly-"

"I'm not being silly! She's dead! Dead!" Sam lashed out. He approached his brother in quick strides, reaching out to the boy's hand. He tugged hard to the fingers, rocking Eric on his knees.

"She died when I was at school! You were the one to tell me! Didn't it happen right in front of your eyes!?" It was mean to make him remember such a moment, but with the approaching fire, Sam only cared about snapping his brother back into the moment so the two could escape. Guilt didn't matter quite so much in that moment as survival did. He would make sure Eric would get out of this too.

Who knew that Ralph was dead? Maybe when they got to the beach they would find the boy alive and well. Maybe a resolution to the situation had been made.

It was worth thinking, wasn't it?

Eric's smile started to dissolve as a confused stare turned towards his brother.

"She didn't... What are you..."

But she did. Of course she did.

* * *

Bathed in a bright light was a woman the two had depended on for so long. She sat alone to a chair, simply reading. Her light smile grew slightly with each turn of a page as the plot thickened in her novel. She kept a close eye on her sick son all times of the day except when she sat to the chair positioned directly in front of the front door. This was her time to skim the pages of her favorite novel and wonder what life would be like if she were in one of them.

The breaking of the door behind her shattered any peaceful and lax thoughts, sending her auburn eyes wide and heart to quicken.

Even quicker was her reaction to grab her son and run from the men storming the house. Her delicate fingers that would often brush through Sam's hair shook as they switched the lock to the bathroom. She fumbled hopelessly with it, pink lips exhaling a sigh before her attention was ultimately turned to her young son.

The woman so small and soft spoken was even quieter as she stuffed the boy to the nearby broom closet. She hushed his worries with a forced smile. Her words were as sweet as usual, but a harsh gasp jumped her body as a pounding on the door began. This action from the men only quickened her pace. Only four words came from her crying face as she locked her sick son into the broom closet.

"Be brave for him."

* * *

Eric's eyes widened at the memories trickling in by the words of a soft-spoken mother. His pupils dotted up, trying to pin-point the woman he had seen so many minutes ago. Only thick creepers and billowing smoke met the boy. Eric stood up, eyes searching for the answer he could never find. But four words found such an answer that had been engrained into him for so many years.

_Be Brave for Him. _

And in his remembering of this order, Eric turned towards his brother. The two found each other's hand, tightening the grip with the strength that could crush a building. And with this, the two smiled to one another.

"Let's get out of here." Sam said, sniffing.

Eric nodded.

"Yeah."


	2. Chapter 2

Two darting shadows made their way past thick creepers, dodging various flames that had worked their way ahead of the main fire. Eric had, per usual, taken a spot slightly ahead of his brother. He judged each path with quick precision, deciding the best route to take. After all, he had his brother to protect.

Their fast pace seemed to rival that of the fire. It wasn't very long before the two had reached the end of the smoldering creepers and the thickest of the smoke. At least Sam had stopped coughing.

However, a certain strong creeper bent in a half-circle clutched at Eric's foot. It wrapped it's hands around the toe of his foot, tripping him and succeeding in twisting the entire appendage. The two twins once again found themselves on the ground next to one another.

"Eric!" Sam yelled, crawling towards his wincing brother. His sight turned towards the foot, auburn eyes widening in just the sight of it.

___No._

___No no no no no._

The bare skin of the ankle was pierced by a thick white bone. A crimson dripped from the skin, landing on the ground. The harsh pain on Eric's face was all he needed to confirm this situation as reality.

Eric looked up to his brother, locking pupils and sharing unsaid words.

___I can't run. I can't walk. The fire is right behind us, Sam._

___Go._

Sam shook his head rapidly.

"I can't. I won't-"

"Sam, you have to. There's no way I can go. You have to leave." All that running and the thick black smoke was already quick upon the two. It choked the tears out of Sam's eyes, giving the boy a sob. He tightened his fists. Sam closed his eyes as his head dropped.

"No... Eric.. I can't.."

"Hey," The twin laughed against the cough forming in his throat. He reached towards Sam's hand, grabbing the fingers.

"I'm your older brother. I'm supposed to look out for you. It's not the other way around." He smiled, eyes looking towards the distance.

"Now go."  
These words did nothing to stir Sam from his sobbing. He sniffed in the smoke only to cough it out again. The hand holding his retracted as Eric shoved his shoulder.

"GO!" He yelled with a harsher tone. Reluctance stained horrified auburn eyes as the boy rose from his seat. Sam's body turned, his head still pointed towards his mirror. The smile on Eric's face ushered his feet to pump ahead of one another. In several strides the boy had developed a light jog. His red face grew heavy with ash as Sam turned back towards the path ahead of him.

Eric watched as his brother's image grew fainter and fainter before the boy disappeared in a smoke growing rapidly. It stuffed his lungs, bringing his head to rest on the ground. Eric's smile dissolved as grief took hold of him. His tears streamed down his cheeks from closed eyes. His shoulders jumped as another sob took hold of the boy. Eric clutched his shoulders as he pulled his legs and ankle closer to his chest.

___Don't leave me... Please... Don't leave me all alone..._

Fear and pain engulfed the forest far faster than any fire could have hoped to. It dissolved any happiness or joy felt by the individuals, burning a mark left for the rest of theirs lives.

A mark any happy or joyous memory could never bury.


End file.
